Dump-car.



No. 748,299. H 4 PATENTED 1330.29, 1903.

' J. D. MOGRATH.

DUMP GAR.

Afrmoulon FILED MAR. 1a. 1903. no MODEL. '2 sums-sum 1.

No. 748,299. PATENTED DEG. 29,1903,

v J. D. MGGRATH.

DUMP GAR.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.13, 1903.

N0 MODEL. Z S HEETSSHEET 2.

Jive/7%)" gziiaaaecsx (fa/727,0. m c f Tuznonms PEIERS co. Pncrmu'mo" WASHINGTON n c I UNITED STATES Patented December 29, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

DUM P-CAR.

- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 748,299, dated December 1903- Application filed March 13, 1903.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN D. MoGRATH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Dump-Oars, of

.sists in the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and then specifically designated by the claim.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this invention 'appertains may understand how to make and use the same, the construction and operation will now be described in detail, referring to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in whichp Figure 1 is an end View of my improved car, showing the same in its normal position; Fig. 2, a cross-section through my improved car, showing the same tilted to one side; Fig. 3, a side elevation of the car; Fig. 4:, a detail view of the ratchet mechanism for tilting the car; Fig. 5, an edge View of Fig. 4. v

A represents the truck of the car, the side frames of which consist of the side beams B, joined together by the cross -beams O: A beam D is secured on the top of the crossbeams in the center and extends longitudinally of the frame, and to this beam the coupling attachments are secured.

E represents triangular braces secured tothe cross-beam (J, and extending upward therefrom to the apex of these triangular frames is pivoted the box F along its longitudinal center. Thus by reason of the box being pivoted at the center it is free to tilt to either side, but is normally held horizontal by means of the chains G, attached to each side of the box and connected to the ends of the crossbeams C. Each of thesechains are provided with latches G, which may be easily disen- Serial Ila-147.582. aromas.)

gaged, so as to separate the chains when it is desired to dump the car.

I am aware that numerous forms of dumpcars have been manufactured and patented; butin all such cars the box is tilted by lifting upward upon one side, the load in the box being so arranged as to equally balance the box When in its normal position, and the box is caused to resume its horizontal or normal position by pushing upward upon one side or tilting downward upon the other; but in heavy cars it requires a great amount of exertion. In my improved car I have provided an apparatus by which the car may be dumped or made to resume its normal position by means of a lever and ratchet and consists of the following arrangement.

H is a shaft journaled in suitable bearings arising from the beam D and extending longitudinally the length of the car.

1 represents chains attached at one end to one side of the car, extending downward around pulleys J, journaled in the truckframe, and then upward and coiled around the shaft H, to which the other ends of said chains are attached. Upon one end of the shaft H are secured two ratchet-wheels K and L, the teeth of which are arranged opposite one another, and between these two ratchetwheels is a lever M, pivoted upon the shaft H, and this lever carries two pawls K and L, pivoted to the lever upon opposite sides, the pawl K adapted to engage the teeth of the ratchet-wheel K and the pawl L adapted to engage the ratchet-wheel L. Arranged below the ratchet-wheels and pivoted within the beam D is a double pawl N, having two fingers L and K so that when the pawl N is tilted in one direction the finger L will engage the wheel L, and when tilted in the opposite direction the finger K will engage the Wheel K, and secured to this pawl N is a chain N, to which a weight N is attached to hold the pawl at one side or the other of the center. v

The operation of the device is as follows: When itis desired to dump the car, thelatches G are disengaged in the chain G upon the off side of the car or that side which rises when the car is dumped, and then one of the pawlsK or L, as the case may be, is thrown around upon its pivot, so that the back of the pawl will raise upon its ratchet-wheel. Then by grasping the lever M. and rocking the same the pawl which is in engagement with the ratchet-wheel will cause said ratchetwheel, and thereby the shaft I-Lto be revolved, which will swing one of the chains I upon the shaft H and unwind the other therefrom, and the pawl N will be so tilted as to prevent retrograde movement when the lever is rocked backward for a new hold upon the ratchet-wheel. Thus the car can be tilted gradually, which will save considerable wear and tear upon the car, and after the box of the car has been emptied by reversing the pawls the car can be made to resume its normal position in the same manner.

Of course if it is desired the ratchet-wheels could be on both ends of the shaft K, so that the lever would be at either end of the car. Instead of using two chains upon each side of the car a sprocket-chain could be used and a sprocket-wheel secured upon the shaft H, over which a continuous chain would run from one side of the car to the other, so that when the shaft H was revolved the chain would be shortened on one side and lengthened on the other.

0 represents the side gates of the box of the car, which are pivoted at each end to levers P, which levers are pivoted intermediate of their two ends in the center of the box upon each end, and the other ends of the levers P are connected to the longitudinal beam D by means of chains Q, so that when the box F is tilted the side gates 0 will be automatically removed from the side of the car to allow the contents to empty therefrom, and as the box is caused to resume its normal position the side gates will automatically close the side of the car.

Of course I do not wish to be limited to the exact construct-ion here shown, as slight modifications could be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and useful is In a dump-car, a truck and truck-frame, a box pivoted along its longitudinal center to said truck-frame and at a distance above the same, a longitudinal shaft journaled to the truck-frame, pulleys journaled in the truck-frame, flexible connections connected at one end to the side of the box and extending downward around the pulley, then upward and attached and coiled about the longitudinal shaft, two ratchetwheels secured upon one end of the longitudinal shaft, the teeth of which'are oppositely disposed toward one another, a lever pivoted to the longitudinal shaft between the two ratchetwheels, two pawls pivoted upon opposite sides of said lever, one adapted to engage the teeth of one ratchet-Wheel and the other the teeth of the other ratchet-wheel, one or the other of said pawls adapted to be thrown out of action when the lever is operated, a doubleacting pawl arranged below the ratchetwheels and having fingers adapted to engage one or the other of the ratchet-wheels, according to which direction it is tilted, said pawl being for the purpose of preventing retrograde movement of the ratchet-wheels when the lever is rocked, means attached to said pawl to hold the same in whatever position placed, chains arranged upon each side of the car, one end of each chain being attached to the under side of the side of the car, and the other end of the chain attached to the truck-frame, latches interposed in each chain, whereby each chain may be separated to allow for the tilting of the box, as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN D. MCGRATH.

Witnesses:

MARY E. HAMER, L. W. MORRISON. 

